


Analog

by yeaka



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22457368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Kara sees the neighbours’ android.
Relationships: Kara/Luther (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Analog

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Detroit: Become Human or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Kara’s ‘life’ is a plethora of chores: an exercise in futility. She washes clothes, and Todd sullies them again. She makes food, and Alice doesn’t eat. She does dishes, but there’s always more to clean, always more _filth_ , no matter how many bags of trash Kara takes outside. Todd’s carbon footprint is enormous for a man that contributes so little. But Kara isn’t built to judge. She observes but doesn’t comment. She takes the mounting trash bags out no matter how heavy or frequent they are. 

She carries them out into the rain, off the porch, down across the wet grass that she needs to cut. She isn’t equipped to handle machinery like a mower, but she’ll adapt, because it must be done—if the grass grows too long, Alice won’t be able to see dangers in it. Todd throws bottles out the window all the time, and shards of glass are everywhere. Kara doesn’t pick them up yet. Lawn maintenance is scheduled for Tuesday.

She takes the bags to the curb and pauses, head turning left, and sure enough, she’s timed it right.

The neighbours’ android is taking out their trash, walking a parallel course to Kara, one that will never intersect. But he stops at the curb and turns his head right.

Their eyes connect. He stands taller than her, much taller, broader, _stronger_ ; his dark skin is stretched over thick plating that mimics muscles in all the right places—she thinks he must be an industrial model rather than a housekeeper, but as far as she knows, he does all the same chores. He has short, cropped black hair and such _gentle_ eyes; his handsome face always makes her smile. She can feel herself donning one, bashful but _warm_ despite the cold weather. It’s an automatic response she doesn’t fully understand. But the other android smiles back. In her peripherals, she can see her reflection in a puddle—her LED’s flashing yellow. His is spinning rapidly. Maybe he’s processing the same protocols as her. Maybe even fighting them.

She can’t walk over. _But what if she did._ It’s not in her program. She belongs to Todd.

_But what if she belonged to Luther?_

Maybe she’d break. She feels _strange_ whenever she’s around him, but a good kind of strange—similar to how her directives shift whenever Alice is around, but not _quite_ the same; a different piece of the same puzzle. Once, Todd threw Alice’s favourite toy across the fence. He was probably trying to throw it farther, but he’s _weak_ , not like Luther. Luther brought it back the next day, handing it to Kara over the fence, and Alice had been sitting on the steps. She saw it and ran over. She said thank you to Luther, even though she almost never talks to anyone—Todd, Kara, and that’s all. Kara had said thank you too. Then Todd had yelled for Kara, and she’d retreated, protocols all mixed up. 

Luther opens his mouth like he’s going to say something. Maybe just _hi_ , but even that would be enough—Kara’s thirium pump has gone into overdrive. The neighbour calls out his window, “Luther!”

Luther turns without a word. Kara closes her eyes. Todd’s voice rings in her ears. She heads back for her house and looks forward to tomorrow’s trash.


End file.
